Editorial Memories of Oblivion

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Not only are Elder Scrolls News Threads always a huge success, I also regard it as my patriotic duty to bring only the highest quality news to you, which is the reason I take the freedom to point you to this retrospective over yonder at a site called spawnkill. <a href="http://spawnkill.com/2010/03/21/spawn-kill-favorites-oblivion/">Topic: Oblivion.</a>
<br>
<br>
<p style="margin-left:50px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-top-color:#ffffff;padding:5px;border-right-color:#bbbbbb;border-left-color:#ffffff;border-bottom-color:#bbbbbb;">Originally released in 2006, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is one of the biggest and most beautiful games to come out of Western developer Bethesda. Like the rest of the series, Oblivion is an open-world RPG with a first-person perspective that gives players a deep sense of freedom. The player is able to roam about the world aimlessly, talking to NPCs, joining guilds, being drafted into many side quests, as well as just taking in the virtual terrain – all without being obliged to participate in the main campaign missions. In a sense, freedom is the philosophy behind Oblivion, both through the seemingly-endless options given to characters as well as the literal goal of the story.
<br>
...
<br>
The non-player characters in The Elder Scrolls IV deserve a special mention here. Through proprietary technology Bethesda has dubbed Radiant AI, NPCs of various towns are enabled to make their own decisions about their lives. Many characters the players come upon throughout the course of the game are literally living their own lives – going to church, working for a living, eating, going to bed by 9 PM, and starting all over again the next day. Many NPCs hunt and kill game to be able to eat, others simply steal food from markets or people’s homes. While the weight of the AI characters’ actions may not directly affect the person playing the game, their need to live and ability to react gives Oblivion a very grand scale.
<br>
...
<br>
Video game fans looking for fantasy-realm freedom need not look further than The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I would highly recommend it, even to fans of more action-oriented titles. Oblivion is truly a milestone in interactive entertainment, and serves as one of the finest examples of Western-developed role playing games ever created.
<br>
</p>
<br>
<br>
I almost want to play this game now.
<br>
<br>
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/97284-the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-retrospective.html">Gamebanshee</A>

 

[Clockwork Knight]

remember, Oblivion created NPC schedules

 

[Sceptic]

Originally released in 2006, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is one of the biggest and most beautiful games

Fuck you VoD.

remember, Oblivion created NPC schedules

 

[Mattresses]

did npcs in oblivion actually steal food from people's houses? all I remember of radiant ai is 'wake up, stand in a field, sit in on a chair, mudcrabs, hero's exploits, hero's exploits, hero's exploits, walk in to a building, walk out of a building, mudcrabs, sleep'.

 

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

I know one Argonian was prone to stealing stuff in Bravil, and getting himself killed.


And another one in the Shivering Isles had the same affliction.

 

[Sceptic]

Yes they did. In front of the owners and the guards. Then they would resist arrest and promptly get a guard's sword in the gut.

 

[Paula Tormeson IV]

The whole engine is somehow seriously faulty. As long as there's level terrain, everything works fine; anything where you have to watch your step, and the NPCs fly in the air, get stuck in objects, don't know what to do and decide to either stand still or run in a ridiculously small circle like a dog chasing its tail. It's such crap. (Of course, this problem is by no means unique to Oblivion; in fact, it may be universal. But then there are the games that don't attempt to do something they can't pull off with even the slightest shred of dignity.)

 

[Luzur]

if i got a dollar every time i had to rez a dead NPC (laying in the middle of the street in the Capitol if the Empire while the sheeple just walked around unconcerned) with "resurrect" command in console....

 

[entertainer]

With such a stunning amount of things to do in Oblivion, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were players who actually wanted to live there. Fortunately, Bethesda saw this opportunity, and included a variety of homes fitting all budgets for the player to indulge themselves with. Homes can be outfitted with pictures, bookshelves, chests for storage, beds, display cases, miscellaneous furniture, and even a humble-yet-capable maid. Since most objects within the game can be lifted and interacted with, players can fill their bookshelves with collected lore, display their most epic of weapons and armor from their fallen brothers, even set their table with their favorite foods and most expensive dinnerware.

But seriously, oblivion? a milestone? finest example?

The hype before/after release was one thing, but this is just pathetic.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

f i got a dollar every time i had to rez a dead NPC (laying in the middle of the street in the Capitol if the Empire while the sheeple just walked around unconcerned) with "resurrect" command in console...

that didn't happen to me on the 360. People still died to the eventual bear on the roads, though

 

[Paula Tormeson IV]

In fact, the best moments in Oblivion are those rare moments when you notice that an NPC or monster (are all monsters NPCs?) has managed to do something you had stopped expecting from it. Like this one time when I was standing on a gate frame, out of the reach of a dinosaur-like monster, and it fucking ran and jumped up a wall and lunged at my character, causing serious injury. I raised my eyebrows, then smiled, etc. Good boy. (Actually, it scared me. Kind of a shock.)

 

[Morkar Left]

The funny thing is that the npcs in gothic 1+2 had way better daily routines and the world felt way more alive than anything the oversmart radiantAI could ever do.

About the newspost: I´m unable to describe how stupid and ignorant the article is.

 

[dragonfk]

The funny thing is that the npcs in gothic 1+2 had way better daily routines and the world felt way more alive than anything the oversmart radiantAI could ever do.

About the newspost: I´m unable to describe how stupid and ignorant the article is.

 

[Elzair]

if i got a dollar every time i had to rez a dead NPC (laying in the middle of the street in the Capitol if the Empire while the sheeple just walked around unconcerned) with "resurrect" command in console....

I wonder why they did not implement a spell to do that. It would have been easy to do and really cool.

 

[JarlFrank]

I'm currently playing a heavily modded Oblivion so I can safely say:
What a crock of bullshit.
The AI is horribly retarded, to the point of being much less immersive than Morrowind's static NPCs. The voice acting is horrible, the writing is shallow. All the pre-release screenshots and articles were fake. It's fun with mods, but it was a severe disappointment considering what the pre-release hype made it out to be.

Does anyone still have the pre-release screenshots from 2004/05, and the old artwork? It all looked a LOT better than the finished game.

EDIT:
Found most of it:
http://www.gamebanshee.com/oblivion/conceptart.php#null

Still didn't find the really old screenshots, including one with a really good-looking realistic face of a woman, compared to which the real faces look like parodies. Most of those screens were photoshopped, I guess.

 

[Luzur]

yeah i remember those, used to get so worked up thinking about visiting those cities in the pics.

 

[JarlFrank]

Ah yes, got them:
http://chorrol.com/screenshots.html

compare to:

 

[poocolator]

"OMG I can't wait to play this game. Morrowind was great!"

then...

"Awww, fuck. I can't believe I was looking forward to this."

Pretty much my experience with Fallout 3.

 

[dragonfk]

So they did have interesting concept art.

What went wrong Pete?

 

[Overweight Manatee]

So they did have interesting concept art.

What went wrong? Pete.

Fixed.

 

[Elwro]

The funny thing is that the npcs in gothic 1+2 had way better daily routines and the world felt way more alive than anything the oversmart radiantAI could ever do.

About the newspost: I´m unable to describe how stupid and ignorant the article is.

 

[Droog White Smile]

Oblivion is good for what it is. Definitely much better than the Gothic games.

 

[Havoc]

Oblivion is good for what it is. Definitely much better than the Gothic games.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Mwahahahaha, behold my clever trolling with faux non-conformism! Everyone will rage a lot and not realise that I am trying too hard!

 

[Droog White Smile]

How about you faggots stop following the hivemind and think for yourselves.

Guess it's too much to ask for.